Culture – Davood Gozli

Phones versus Play: What Jonathan Haidt Means by the Great Rewiring of Childhood in ‘The Anxious Generation’

By Davood Gozli | 03/11/202403/11/2024 by Davood Gozli

In The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt contrasts two fundamentally different ways of growing up: a play-based childhood versus a phone-based childhood. The shift from physical, open-ended play to structured, screen-driven interaction has changed how children explore the world and socialize, with significant developmental and mental health implications. Haidt identifies two primary forces behind this change: “safetyism” in parenting, which over-protects kids from…

Forthcoming Group Discussions: Deconstruction & Pragmatism

By Davood Gozli | 08/12/202307/02/2024 by Davood Gozli

I have selected the next book for our Saturday reading group, which we will begin in January: Deconstruction & Pragmatism. I’ve chosen it for several reasons. This book is an excellent choice for both new and existing members. It’s an exciting next step following our recent discussions on Understanding Poststructuralism, and stands out for being brief, accessible, and engaging. The book is a collection of contributions from Simon Critchley, Jacques Derrida, Ernesto Laclau, Richard Rorty,…

Culture Psychology in Everyday Life

The Desire for Unity of Character in Others

By Davood Gozli | 14/07/202314/07/2023 by Davood Gozli

Only in the past few years have I started to accept that each person is a blend of many things, rather than being a consistent, unified whole. It took me a couple of decades, as a student of psychology and as a person living among other people, to grasp this basic fact about human beings and to let go of a naive expectation to see total uniformity in personalities. Now, I can appreciate the “good”…

Culture interview Phenomenology

Soulful Interviews

By Davood Gozli | 08/06/2023 by Davood Gozli

What is a soulful interview? Why is it important? How does it impact research and recruitment? Every interview has the potential to be a singular event, yet most interviews gravitate toward patterns that are frequently repeated. The spectrum between complete uniqueness and total repetition represents the range in which most interviews take place. Interviews, whether for research or recruitment, can become mechanical procedures, overlooking the fact that they are human encounters that can be conducted…

book review Culture James Baldwin Religion

James Baldwin’s “Go Tell It on the Mountain”

By Davood Gozli | 06/04/2023 by Davood Gozli

The feeling of existential unease, of not being at home in the world, is present in James Baldwin’s novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, to a painfully concentrated degree. The novel takes that feeling of unease as its starting point and goes on to explore broader themes related to family, history, and religion. The story is set in Harlem, New York City of the 1930s, centered on a day in the life of John…